Car-starter



No. 750,958. PATEN'I'ED FEB. 2, 1904. D. FRANCE.

GAR STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

lijginjunu 1 Inventor 09am dF/ anaa Witnesses ap W4 Attorney Patented February 2, 1904 PATENT EEicE,

DAVID FRANCE, OF HAI/VLEY, MINNESOTA.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 50,958, dated February 2, 1904:.

Application filed June 18, 1803.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID FRANCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hawley, in the county of Clay and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Starters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of devices used by railroad employees and others for starting and moving cars on the rails; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

One object of my invention is to effect improvements in the construction of the starting-lever, which engages the rim of the carwheel and turns the same.

A further object of my invention is to effect improvements in the construction of the shoe, which is slidable on the rail and which carries the starting-lever.

A further object of my invention is to combine with the shoe and starting-lever a pawl which engages the rail when the starting-lever is applied to the car-wheel and prevents the starter from moving rearwardly on the rail.

In the accompanying drawings, a side elevation of my improved car-starter, showing the same in position when in use, with the starting-lever engaged with the rim of a car-wheel and the pawl engaged with the head of the rail. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

In the embodiment of my invention I pro-- vide a shoe 1, the width of which is such as to enable it to fit and slide on the head of a rail, and the shoe is provided at its sides with depending flanges 2 to engage the sides of the rail-head and retain the shoe thereon. A pair of standard-brackets 3 rise from the front portion of the shoe to a considerable height. Their front sides are incurved, as at 4:, to correspond with the shape of a car-wheel to enable the front end of a shoe to be inserted between the head of a rail and the wheel.

The starting-lever 5 is fulcrumed between Figure 1 is Serial No. 162,134. (No model.)

the standard-brackets, as at 6, and is provided at 1ts front end wlth a wheel-engaging arm or hook 7, which is upturned and is provided with a sharpened edge 8 for engaging the rim of a car-Wheel. The height of the standardbrackets is such that the hook-arm 7 of the starting-lever engages the rim of the wheel at a considerable height above the rail and at a considerable distance in rear of the center of the wheel, so that when the outer end of the starting-lever is depressed the movement of the hook-arm 7 is such as to turn without tending to raise the wheel from the track.

A pawl 9 has itt upper end pivotally mounted between the standard-brackets, as at 10. The pawl extends downwardly and rearwardly from the standard-brackets and its lower end passes through an opening 11 in the rear portion of the shoe 1, which extends rearwardly from the standard-brackets. The engaging end of the pawl 9 is beveled obliquely with reference to the front side thereof, as at 12, so that an edge 13 is formed at the lower end of the pawl, which is adapted to become embedded in the head of the rail when the starting-lever is operated to turn the car-wheel and to prevent the device from moving rearwardly on the rail.

FronT the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A car-starter, comprising a shoe to slide on a rail and having flanges to retain the same thereon, a standard extending upwardly from the shoe, the latter extending also rearwardly from the standard and having an opening 11, a starting-lever fulcrumed to the standard, and a rail-engaging pawl pivoted to the standard, extending downwardly and rearwardly therefrom and having its lower free end exthe standard and extending downwardly and tending through the opening 11, substantially rearwardly therefrom, substantially as deas described.

2. A car-starter, comprlsing a shoe to slide on a rail, and havlng a standard, a startinglever fulcrumed to the standard at a point in a Vertical plane substantially midway between the ends of the shoe and a rail-engaging pawl, to prevent rearward movement of the shoe on the rail when the starting-lever is engaged with a car-wheel, said pawl being pivoted to scribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 5 my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID FRANCE.

Witnesses:

ALEX FOURTAIR, G. HALVORSON. 

